California’s restaurant trade group is stepping into the ongoing trash pickup dispute in the city of Los Angeles, looking to advocate for local business owners.
The Sacramento-based California Restaurant Association has asked local restaurants to share their experiences as the trade group plans to approach the city council about large fee increases, delayed pickups and what it said was a lack of competition among trash haulers.
The new trash pickup system began in July when the city implemented a franchise waste-hauling system for businesses and residences.
Mark Van Gessel of Venice’s Hinano Café told the Business Journal in August, just after the program launched, that his restaurant’s trash, which previously was picked up daily, sat for a week before being removed by City of Industry-based Athens Services Inc. The delay prompted neighbors to complain about the smell, but the region lacks a centralized advocacy group for restaurants, which is why the statewide association is now stepping in.
Owners of residential rental properties also have weighed in on the matter.
Fred Sutton, director of government affairs for the Greater Apartment Association of Los Angeles, said in October that there should be a cap on how much the haulers could charge.
The city chose seven companies in 2016 to serve as the exclusive waste haulers in 11 franchise zones. In addition to Athens, they include Paramount’s CalMet Services, Montebello’s NASA Services, Phoenix’s Republic Services, Santa Fe Spring’s Universal Waste Systems, Santa Ana’s Ware Disposal and Houston’s Waste Management Inc.
Claire’s Close to BK
Teen accessory retail chain Claire’s Stores Inc. is reportedly close to declaring bankruptcy, giving mall operators another headache as many struggle with the continuing growth of e-commerce.
Claire’s has about dozen stores throughout Los Angeles County, including a shop in the Westside Pavilion in West L.A., which announced earlier this month that it would convert more than 80 percent of its 600,000 square feet of retail space to creative office and leave the remainder as entertainment retail.
Claire’s, meanwhile, has been unable to sustain the $2 billion debt it took on when New York-based investment management firm Apollo Global Management bought it in 2007.
Apollo had assets of about $242 billion under management as of September.
Claire’s would be the latest retailer forced into bankruptcy after being unable to pay back debt taken on through a leveraged buyout, including Manhattan Beach-based luxury jean maker True Religion Inc.
Blaze Calls Call Center
Pasadena-based restaurant Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza is using past and present technologies in an attempt to reach more customers.
The make-your-own pizza company, which has approximately 240 locations across the country, began taking orders for pick-up by telephone and offering delivery from certain locations through the San Francisco-based app Caviar Inc. for the first time last month.
“We know convenience is one of the most important reasons our customers choose us,” said Chief Marketing Officer Shivram Vaideeswaran. “With ‘fast’ in our name, we have to make sure we deliver.”
17 Blaze locations across the U.S. – including five in Los Angeles County – now offer app-based delivery, and Vaideeswaran said the company plans to extend the option to more locations with Caviar’s expansion.
The use of a third-party app to deliver food isn’t new; Westwood-based competitor 800 Woodfired Kitchen, formerly 800 Degrees, offers delivery through app DoorDash.
Some competitors take phone orders through their individual location. Blaze’s use of a call center and toll-free telephone number allows it to take phone orders without disrupting the work flow at is resaurants.
Blaze launched the national telephone line, 1-877-BLAZE-4-U, and began working with Colorado Springs, Colo.-based restaurant call center SYNQ3 Restaurant Solutions, in February. Customers can place orders with almost any of the Blaze locations during the restaurants’ business hours, according to Vaideeswaran.
Accepting phone orders adds another way for customers to order if not near a computer or smartphone, and also introduces the seven-year-old brand to those who might not be accustomed to placing orders through digital technology, Vaideeswaran said.
Staff reporter Caroline Anderson can be reached at (323) 556-8329 or [email protected].
